Unisi Poster Session

I was also very overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information presented to us at the Unisi poster session. However, when Dr. Baldari began her presentation on molecular immunology I perked up a bit because the Biochemistry course I took last semester covered cellular signalling extensively. As a result, I was able to follow some of the information she presented, even though most of what she said still went over my head. So, after the presentations were over, her poster, titled “Anthrax Toxins Suppress Immune Cell Activation and Chemotaxis by Perturbing Receptor Signalling,” was the first one I went to. Since Anthony already discussed how edema factors (EF) and lethal factors (LF) suppress T-cell activation and proliferation, I will focus on how EF and LF inhibit chemotaxis (movement in response to chemical signals) of T-cells and macrophages by subverting signalling by both CXC and CC chemokine receptors (proteins that induce chemotaxis).
CXC and CC chemokines are just two different types of chemokines that have slightly different downstream effects. These two proteins essentially work through the same metabolic pathway, however. After a ligand binds to the receptor, which is embedded in the cell membrane, the receptor changes shape and activates another protein on the inside of the cell. This protein then goes on to activate another protein, which activates yet another protein, and so on until the final downstream effect is achieved, which in this case, would be chemotaxis. As stated in the abstract for this poster, EF and LF inhibit chemotaxis of T-cells and macrophages by inhibiting the signalling from these receptors, at any of the steps in the pathway.